Most of us won’t make it into the top 1%. Statistically, that’s impossible. 99% of us will not reach that level of success.

But here’s the key: the more we understand ourselves, the more we can create a unique experience tailored just for us. This is where true success lies. If we strive to be in the top 1% of being our authentic selves, we all have the potential to succeed.

Imagine a group of 100 people, each in the top 1% of who they truly are. That’s the real success. We don’t need to be the next Jeff Bezos; someone has already claimed that spot. Instead, we need to discover what makes us unique and special, and become the best at being that version of ourselves.

But if we can figure out the life we truly want, not the one that makes our neighbor jealous, not the one defined by the car, the handbag, or the watch that society tells us we can have once we’ve “made it,” then we can all achieve it.

We each have a unique path waiting for us, one that aligns with our individual interests and the unique value we can bring to the world.

And the further we travel down that road, the more we realize there are no competitors. The more we discover, the greater the wealth and value we can generate. We’re no longer chasing trends or trying to fulfill someone else’s dream. The odds of success are low on that well-worn path.

That often is what we’re told: life is about that wealth, that bank account. But that road is not as fulfilling as people think. And it’s an empty road. It’s that handbag that is $5,000, doesn’t hold your keys, your wallet, your makeup, better than a $5 bag. We tend to chase money so we can waste money. But that is not what is going to be the most fulfilling thing in our lives. That is not going to bring us lasting joy. There’s countless amounts of evidence that show us that we can be depressed and wealthy. We can be happy and poor.

Of course, we all need money to survive and to thrive. We do live in this modern economy.

But how we spend our day matters more than numbers on our computer screen, the code and bank accounts that show up on our phones. And if we chase the money, there’s never enough. There will never be that number where we’re satisfied because it just keeps going up. There’s no end to infinity. 

But if we chase life, if we chase a life well-lived, we can all succeed. We can all live that dream.

There are 8 billion dreams in this world, not just one. And the more that this world awakens to those 8 billion dreams, the more this world starts to really blossom and look more like a dream than a nightmare. We look around and see a world chasing profits above everything else. Imagine what it would look like if we chased a perfect life for each of us.

Chasing that perfect life for each of us means we don’t want to exploit others. We want to help others. It means that we understand life is not free from suffering and that money doesn’t end all tragedy. But we would understand that the good and the bad can deepen our presence and appreciation for whatever comes our way. We don’t avoid luxury; we use it as a tool to avoid getting carried away with greed, lust, and desire. We welcome tragedies as an opportunity to not get carried away in anger and despair. And through this, everything in life simply deepens our presence, joy, and gratitude.

So many people today want a house with so many rooms that they have five or ten rooms they never go in because the house is so big. They want so many cars that they forget what cars they even have. They want big homes and luxury cars, not because they actually want them, but because of what the neighbors will think and the prestige and status that come with these things. And this is all living someone else’s dreams.

A luxury handbag will not hug you. It will not bring you the warmth that you crave or the lasting happiness. You’ll just immediately want a new handbag, a new watch, a new dress, whatever things you are pursuing because that is the universal goal we’re all supposed to crave and desire to achieve: that top 1% wealth status so you can waste more money on more things that you don’t need, which bring no true extra value to your life.

But when we use everything in our life as a spiritual practice to maintain our presence, to not lose ourselves to those heavy emotions, whether they be anger or desire, only then do we grow in our true, lasting internal joy that we bring with us to every situation we encounter.

It’s probably the most common misconception that our wealth status, that our bank accounts, are the number one predictor of our happiness, that they are the only goal that matters in life, and that they determine our worth, our self-worth. This, obviously, could not be further from the truth. We have so much evidence from depressed billionaires, from billionaires and millionaires who have troubled family members and troubled relationships, from the stress and early deaths that come from that stress.

And we have countless examples of people who are getting by and who have incredible families, who are incredibly close with their families, and who experience infinite joy because they are not distracted by the desire for something they don’t have and by the value of money or numbers on a screen. They actually have something real in their lives.

It’s never too late to start following your own path. We can start right now, loving what we are doing, where we are on our journey, and beginning to play with and figure out where we want to go, what we want to do, and how we want to spend our days. We all have many options. If we just focus on money, we will find an empty existence. Our happiness will be tied to countless factors that may or may not go our way.

But when we start living true to ourselves, true to what matters to us, then it doesn’t matter what the outcome is because we are loving each moment of our lives. The point of life is not wealth; it is simply to love the time we have. And it doesn’t even matter what our circumstances are. We can all dive into ourselves, into that infinite ocean of peace that resides inside every single one of us.

And we can find that infinite wonder that we all get to experience if we stop focusing so much on these benchmarks, these achievements, these made-up numbers, and whether or not we can make that number grow. We all need money; we all have to survive. We have to make money in order to eat and live.

But when we truly find out what we are interested in, when we discover that thing that brings value to others, money tends to naturally follow. So, we could chase money, or we could chase this beautiful, unique experience of life. In both cases, money tends to follow. But in one of them, we get to enjoy the ride.

As long as we focus on the stuff and not the deeper meaning and purpose behind it, life will stay shallow, superficial. We’ll live to impress and make others jealous, instead of being so in awe of the life we create that we’re overcome with gratitude every moment. If we chase wealth, we will never catch it. There is always more. But if we chase this moment, we will always be in achievement. We will always feel that we have arrived, that there is nothing more that we need, and we are living in true abundance.

And this is why we see so many wealthy people have such a scarcity and lack mindset, they are obsessed with what they don’t have. Yet, we see so many families filled to the brim with love, love for their family and community and love for life itself.

There’s an old saying: “Some people are so poor, all they have is money.”